Last weekend proved to be a great couple of days for Lakeside junior Rashad Roundtree. First, his Panthers beat perennial state power Thomson 23-14 on Friday night. Then, Roundtree spent Saturday in Athens watching The University of Georgia beat South Carolina 41-30.

Roundtree was in Athens as an invited guest of UGA defensive coordinator Todd Grantham. Grantham appears to be enamored with Roundtree and invited him up to Athens on an unofficial visit.

Mark Greubel is a former world champion kickboxer, he has built Greubel’s MMA into a great local business, and he has been churning out world champion kickboxers at a staggering rate. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that he has been selected to be the head coach for USA Kickboxing. Last December, Greubel expanded his business by adding a second location inside Evans Fitness Club. He says the partnership has been great.

Five years ago, Brandon McCladdie was part of a very special football season for the Evans Knights. The versatile McCladdie was a standout wide receiver and defensive back for an Evans team that went 10-1 and won a region championship.

That season McCladdie was named All-County, All-Area, and All-Region. He even got a football scholarship to attend The Citadel. Despite all his prep success (he was a four-sport standout), I do not think anyone envisioned McCladdie becoming a pro prospect.

This time of year I am asked several times each day how a think [insert team here] will do this season. That is when I know football season is approaching. It is not that people simply want my opinion. They just want to talk football. It has become a year-round sport, and in the South college football is certainly king. I am a fan first, so I love talking about the upcoming season. For the last few years, I have taken time in one of my columns to tell you my thoughts on the quartet of FBS schools in our area. Luckily, we have some really good teams to root for this year.

Last week, Greenbrier confirmed a rumor that had been swirling through the county when Jason Osborn was named as the new head baseball coach. And while many folks in Columbia County may not know the name, and although Osborn has never coached or played at Greenbrier, this was a move made to bring back tradition. Osborn knows all about the baseball tradition in the CSRA. He played for Westside in the early ’90s for Gerald Barnes, the all-time winningest coach in Georgia history. He also served as an assistant for four seasons under Columbia County coaching legend Terry Holder at Thomson.

WJBF News Channel 6 is set to begin its third season of broadcasting high school football. The station’s “Game Night Live” has aired on Thursday Nights the past two seasons. However, this season the games will be moved to Friday.

According to WJBF’s Scott Skadan, the move was made to help provide the best matchups possible. “We were just having a tough time getting some schools to play on Thursday,” said Skadan.

With a 2-0 victory over Dudley Little League out of Dublin, Ga., the 10- and 11-year-old All-Stars from Martinez-Evans Little League completed an incredible summer run.

The squad has been simply dominant. They started by outscoring the opposition 50-1 during district play, which included a 33-0 pounding of Elbert County.

The competition level was expected to rise as they entered state tournament play. Even so, they recieved a very tough draw in the opening round as they squared off with the Northlern Little League from Columbus.

The CSRA boasted a large group of golfers in the field for this year’s Georgia State Amateur Championship. The local contingent included more than a half-dozen players from Columbia County. Five players who hail from Columbia County made the cut on the difficult course at Pinetree Country Club in Kennesaw. Par was at a premium all week long at Pinetree, a course that produced the event’s first over-par finish in 20 years. The winner was Columbus native and Kennesaw State University golfer Jimmy Beck. He shot a final round 2-under 69 to finish 1 over par for the event and win by 2 shots.